Accompanist-harp.



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S. B. SHILEY.

ACCOMPANIST HARP.

ATi'oN FILED MAY1 AP i914. 1,179,233. Patented Apr. 11,1916.

WWW M', im] e N i MM WNW' l 1N 'NH a Y#Hill 11M/Q 'I1 y *l* W 'N1 Il M'k Q l A www [Hmm n SYLVESTER B. SHILEY, OF LA MESA, CALIFORNIA.

pACCOMPANIST-HARIP.

Specification of Iietters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed May 11, 1914. Serial N o. 837,618.

To all whom 'itmay concern Be it known that LSYLVESTER B. SHILEY, acitizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of La Mesa, in the county ofSan Diego and State of California, have invented certain new `and usefulImprovements in Accompanist-Harps, of which the following is aspecication.

My invention relates to an accompanist harp which is in the form andshape of an ordinary harp or Zither, and it is moreparticularly adaptedfor accompanying another musical instrument 0r a vocalist.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide an accompanist harpupon which any one with some ear for music can readily llearn to playaccompaniments with other instruments or with a `vocalist in all the`different keys without having first learnedV the art of lingering theinstrument as is ordinarily done; and second, to provide such aninstrument that is simple of construction, durable and easily adjusted.

lith these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, myinventionconsists of certain novel features of'construction, combinationand arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter described in detail andparticularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings and to the characters of reference thereon,which form a part of this specification, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of my instrument complete; Fig. 2 is aside View of my operating lever, side view on an enlarged scale of oneof the adjusting screws. 1

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

The body 1, strings 2, -string' support 3, adjusting screws 4, tuningpins 5, plate 6 and operating lever 7, constitute the principal parts ofmy musical instrument.

The body l is shaped as shown best in Fig. 1, hollow, and has a hole inone side, the same as most stringed musical instruments. Upon the uppersurface, and close to one edge, is pivotally mounted the operating lever7. It is so-mountedon said pivot that it may beralsed and loweredslightly thereon as shown best in Fig. 2.

and Fig. 3 is a detailed Y It is provided on its lower surface with aspring member 7a which is rigidly secured thereto near itsl pivotalmounting at one of its ends and its other end swinging loosely. Upon thelower surface of this spring is provided a felt cushion 7b; this cushionbeing thicker at the loose end and gradually tapering to the attachedend. This spring and cushion is for the purpose of stopping thevibration of the strings before pressure is brought to bear on saidstringsby said lever. Upon the `upper surface of this body l is rigidlymounted a hitch bar 3, the inner surface of which is in line with thepivotal mounting of the lever 7. To this string support 3 a lpluralityof strings are mounted which vary in'length and thickness to facilitatethe getting of the proper pitch of tone. Near the opposite edge of thebody l, placed in line with said pivotal mounting of the lever 7, is arow of adjusting screws 4. This row of adjusting screws 4 which performthe function, of bridges for the strings and string support 3 divergefrom Ieach other on lines having a common vertex at the center of thescrew 7C. Each of these adjusting screws 4 is provided near its headwith a groove 4b adapted for holding a string. The string support orhitch bar 3 is provided with a row of hitch pins *3a each adapted forattaching the end of a string. Parallel to the row of adjusting screws4, and between it and the outeredge of the sounding board, is a row oftuning pins 5, each adapted for holding the end of a string and forwinding a string thereon when said pin is turned. The strings aremounted by attaching one of the ends to one of the hitch pins 3 in thesupport 3, and fastening the other end to the tuning pin 5, and havingthe string, when drawn tight, resting in the groove 4b. There should beenough of the strings to produce the various tones necessary to form amusical chord and they are placed parallel to one another. The lowertones are produced on the longer strings and increase in pitch from thelongest string toward the shortest string. The strings, while open, aretuned to the tones desired. These strings are adjusted in their properpositions by means of the screws 4 so that their j top surfaces areflush with each other to provide a level bearing surface for the lowersurface of the lever 7. Radiating from the center of the screw 7C is aplurality of lines la. These lines are spaced apart from each otherone-half tone and are used to indicate the positions where the Contacting portion of the lever 7 is to be brought into contact with thestrings 2. Twelve of of these lines la are shown with the twelfth linepositioned midway the length of the strings, marking the octave, therows of screws or studs 4L marking the first note of the scale. Theselines may be indicated with the various letters of the musical scale soas to show the steps and half steps, or sharps and iiats if desired, butit is preferable to not so indicate them.

It is obvious that when the instrument is turned to any required key orchord that the same order of interval in tones will be maintained, whenthe operating lever is brought into contact with the strings at anypoint; that the tones will become higher in pitch as the lever is movedfrom left to right or from the end toward the center of the board incontact with the strings, and the tones will be lower in pitch as thelever is moved from right to left in contact with the strings.

The plate 6 whichis shown mounted on the edge of the board 1 opposite tothe edge on which said lever is pivoted has its upper edge normallyprojecting above the upper surface of said board and is disposed justenough below the level of the strings to permit the lever tosuiiiciently depress the strings to prevent them from vibrating exceptbetween said lever and the hitch bar. This plate or rail 6 is designedto form a support or stop for the lever 7 to prevent it from beingdepressed to such an extent as to cause the strings 2 to contact withthe board l as under no circumstances should these strings ever makesuch contact. This plate 6 is adjustably mounted on said boardpreferably by means of transversely extending slots 6 arranged atintervals therein and through which headed screws 6 extend and which maybe loosened and the plate adjusted at the desired height according tothe pressure that it is desired the lever shall impart to the stringsbut at no time should the plate be so high as to hold the lever entirelyout of Contact with the strings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. An accompanist harp comprising a sound board provided with aplurality of strings running parallel with each other and extendinglongitudinally of the board, a lever pivoted at one end near the edge ofsaid sound board and extending across said` strings, supports for theends of the strings arranged on lines radiating from the lever pivot,and a plurality of lever positioning indicators arranged in radialalinement with the pivot of said lever.

2. An accompanist harp comprising a sound board provided with aplurality of strings running parallel with each other and extendinglongitudinally of the board, a lever pivoted at one end near the edge ofsaid sound board and extending across said strings, a plurality of linesradiating from the pivot of said lever and extending transversely acrosssaid board, and longitudinally spaced string supports mountedtransversely on said board with the lines of said supports passingthrough said lever pivot.

3. An accompanist harp comprising a sound board, a plurality of stringsmount# ed on said board and running parallel with each other, a leverpivotally mounted at one end at one side edge of the said board andextending transversely across said strings, a plurality of linesradiating from the pivot of said lever and spaced a distance suicient tochange the pitch of the strings a semitone of the musical scale whensaid lever is moved from one line to the line next adjacent, andsupports for the ends of the strings arranged on lines radiating fromthe lever pivot.

4. An accompanist harp comprising a sound board, a lever pivoted at oneend to said board and extending transversely thereof, a plurality ofparallel strings extending longitudinally of said board, supports forsaid strings radiating from said lever pivot, a plurality of guide lineson said board beneath said strings spaced apart from each other asemi-tone and radiating from the pivot of said lever, and means carriedby said lever for preventing vibration of said strings prior to thepressure thereon by said lever.

5. In an accompanist harp, the combina tion of a sound board, aplurality of parallel strings stretched across and above the surface ofsaid board, a lever pivoted at one end and extending transversely ofsaid strings, supports for the ends of the strings arranged on linesradiating from the lever pvot, and a damper xed on one end of the lowerface of said lever and having its free end extending toward the free endof the lever, the cushioning face of said damper being thicker at itsfree end and gradually tapering toward its attached end.

6. An accompanist harp comprising a sound board provided with aplurality of strings running parallel with each other, a lever pivotedat one end near one side edge of. said board and adapted to extendacross said strings, supports for the ends of the strings arranged onlines radiating from the lever pivotia plate mounted on the other side.subscribed my name in the presence of two edge of said'board andprojecting above the subscribing Witnesses.

upper face thereof to form a sto for said u lever, said plate beingadjustabl'y? mounted SYLVESTER B' SHILEY' 5 0n said board to vary itsposition in re1a- Witnesses:

tion to said strings. ABRAM B. BOWMAN,

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto MINNIE KORTE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

